Olive oil & brain
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Olive oil consumption could lead to a 'younger brain' in the elderly
As people get older, the more their minds could benefit from the action of an important ingredient in olive oil.
New research reveals deeper effects of hydroxytyrosol (HTyr): Not only does it protect brain functions from aging, but it can even restore the vitality of brain neurons and multiply them.
Italian scientists at the National Research Center (CNR) have investigated how hydroxytyrosol works in those parts of the brain that produce new neurons throughout life.
They found that HTyr affects brain activity far beyond the known neuroprotective effects.
Researchers at the CNR Biochemistry and Cellular Biology Lab (CNR-Ibbc) have shown how giving the compound to the elderly can reverse neuronal aging by combining the protection of active neurons and the creation of new ones.
"Oral consumption of hydroxytyrosol by young and older animals within a month not only shows how the new neurons created by the brain are protected in this time frame, but also implies how in older animals it stimulates stem cell proliferation." "These neurons produce new neurons," said Felice Tirone, lead scientist and author of the study, which was published in the Faseb Journal. "